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Case #14149 Rating: 2.6 out of 5
Puppy mill - 23 sick dogs seized
Cochranville, PA (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jul 18, 2008
County: Chester
Charges: Summary, Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: John Blank
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A Chester County Amish farmer was arrested last night during a raid on his farm and charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty.
John Blank of Cochranville, owner of Limestone Kennels, was taken into custody by Pennsylvania State Police shortly after 5 p.m. when agents from the Pennsylvania SPCA descended on his farm.
In front of his crying children, he was handcuffed and placed in the back of the police cruiser. After it was determined that he wasn't a flight risk, he was allowed to spend the night on his farm.
Warrants issued earlier in the day charged Blank, 54, with three misdemeanor counts and 10 summary counts of animal cruelty.
By the time the raid ended after about 31/2 hours, 21 summary counts of neglect and lack of veterinary care had been filed against Blank, said PSPCA program officer Elaine Scapalla.
The entire event was filmed by crews from the reality show Animal Cops, which is trailing the PSPCA during the next several weeks.
Of the 100-plus dogs found on the farm, 21 dogs - five or six adults and the rest puppies - were taken to the agency's Philadelphia shelter, Scapalla said.
"All were crowded in cages, their nails were curled under, and two had embedded collars," she said. Some had conjunctivitis, an inflammation of the eye; others had untreated abscesses, she said.
Reporters were not allowed on Blank's property and were unable to reach him for comment yesterday.
The so-called puppy mill Blank operated at his 73-acre farm along Route 10 was not visible from the highway. Instead, a sign advertising brown eggs and cut flowers greeted motorists zipping along the busy road.
The farm, immaculate with carefully tended fields of corn and tobacco, and a large garden in front of the farmhouse, differed little from other farms in the fertile Octorara watershed.
Yesterday's raid had its origins two weeks ago with a small ad in a Lancaster newspaper for free breeder dogs that caught the attention of Bill Smith, founder of Main Line Animal Rescue in Chester Springs.
Smith went to the farm, but Blank wasn't home. Volunteers visited the farm over the next two days and ended up with nine dogs, all in deplorable condition, Smith said.
"Two were missing their eyes," he said. "They had big gaping holes with flies in them. One of the dogs had his eye hanging out. Two were missing ears."
Teeth on one dog, a Shiba Inu, were so bad that he couldn't close his mouth, Smith said. Smith took the dogs to the PSPCA for medical evaluation.
A week later, undercover investigator Ashley Mutch went to the farm and purchased a sickly puppy that Blank had said was 7 weeks old. The puppy, which was determined to be just 3 weeks old, died within 24 hours, she said.
According to records from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Blank has a license to have as many as 250 dogs at his kennel. An inspection in January found no violations, although he has been cited in the past for maintenance and overcrowding.
Magisterial District Judge Henry Farmer of Oxford is expected to issue penalties against Blank today, said Scapalla.
Case UpdatesJohn Blank, proprietor of Limestone Kennel in Chester County, pleaded guilty Friday to eight animal cruelty charges and two state Dog Law violations, concluding a two-week state investigation.
Under the plea agreement, Mr. Blank will give up almost 66 dogs to the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) and submit to two years probation, the terms of which forbid him to own more than five dogs.
PSPCA officials removed 23 dogs from the breeding headquarters a week earlier upon discovering the animals had either injuries or illnesses the officials deemed to have resulted from the dogs' housing conditions.
"This verdict and sentencing is a very good sign for the animals that need this protection and represents a new era for sentencing of animal abusers in the Philadelphia court system," PSPCA CEO Howard Nelson said in a statement.
Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff welcomed the case's outcome and said state lawmakers must do more to ensure the safety of dogs in commercial breeding facilities.
"Raising the minimum standards for commercial breeding kennels and requiring annual veterinary checks would benefit all dogs in these types of settings," Mr. Wolff said in a statement. "Current law does not require that dogs ever receive routine medical care and as a result, many go without."
Mr. Wolff spoke favorably of legislation currently before the House Appropriations Committee that would ban "puppy mills," breeding facilities animal-rights advocates have identified as negligent of dogs' health and safety.
Sponsored by state Rep. James E. Casorio, D-56th, of Westmoreland County, the proposed revisions to Pennsylvania's Dog Law include expanding the minimum floor space required in kennels, banning wire flooring in those facilities and requiring breeders to give canines outdoor exercise space. Mr. Casorio's bill would also make yearly veterinary examinations for commercially housed dogs mandatory. Titled House Bill 2525, the legislation has passed the House Agricultural and Rural Affairs and Rules committees by comfortable majorities.
While owners of many hunting kennels and other non-commercial dog facilities have backed efforts to eliminate "puppy mills," some have voiced their support guardedly due to worries that their own operations could be effected. The current version of the proposal adds virtually no new regulations to those governing non-commercial facilities. | Source: The Bulletin - July 28, 2008
Update posted on Jul 28, 2008 - 9:34AM |
Authorities plan to file charges on Monday against an Amish kennel owner, after seizing 23 sick and disfigured dogs, which were reportedly crammed into cages Thursday inside a barn with roughly 300 others,
John Blank of Upper Oxford will be charged for lack of veterinary care and neglect in the Oxford district court, according to Pennsylvania SPCA program officer Elaine Skypala.
Officials learned about the alleged conditions at Limestone Kennel after Blank surrendered nine dogs to the Main Line Animal Rescue roughly three weeks ago. The dogs, Skypala said, had numerous health issues, prompting the shelter to contact the PSPCA.
Next, officials sent an undercover officer into the kennel. Blank sold the officer a 3-week-old puppy that was nearly dead for $300, Skypala said. The puppy died a day later due to dehydration, emaciation and hypothermia, she said.
The sale was enough for authorities to obtain a search warrant, she said.
Thursday evening, authorities went to the farm in the 1500 block of Limestone Road, where they found about 300 dogs and as many as eight puppies stuffed into one small cage, Skypala said.
The dogs were piled onto each other and had food troughs with feces mixed in, she said. Some puppies, she said, were so small they could not reach the lipsticks for water bottles attached to the cages and their paws slipped through gaps on the cages' floors.
"The way the animals were kept, you could tell they were not getting veterinary care," Skypala said.
Authorities seized 23 dogs that had obvious medical issues, including fly bites and untreated wounds, Skypala said. And, she said, one of the dogs Blank turned over to the shelter had a severe eye problem.
"Had it been treated, it could have been fixed," she said.
Blank sold his puppies to pet stores and individuals for $800 to $1,300, Skypala said. The owner was licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sell to pet shops, she said.
Charges are expected to be filed Monday with Magisterial District Judge Harry W. Farmer Jr. in Oxford.
PSPCA is caring for the nine adult dogs and 14 puppies.
Skypala said her office will be conducting more similar investigations.
"This is just the beginning of our investigation," she said. | Source: Daily Local News - July 19, 2008
Update posted on Jul 20, 2008 - 7:52PM |
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